916 Area Code gets 279 Overlay

[ZLoth]

From California Public Utility Commission:

The 916 area code is forecasted to use up all its available prefixes by the 1st quarter of 2018.  Adding a new area code to the 916 area code region will provide additional prefixes and ensure new telephone numbers are available for the new customers. The telecommunications service providers have proposed to add the new area code using the overlay method.

(text deleted)

On Feb. 9, 2017, the CPUC acted to ensure that phone numbers continue to be available to meet demand in the 916 area code by approving an area code overlay that will provide additional numbering resources while minimizing customer inconvenience. The new area code that will be added to the 916 region is 279.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Oh, this will be fun. The 916 area code was one of the three original area codes for California. The last time there was a major change in this area was when a major chunk of Northern California was carved away on November 1st, 1997 and turned into the 530 area code, leaving Sacramento country using 916. I wonder how long it will be until 916 will be the mark of how long you lived in Sacramento.

[oscar]

I wonder how long it will be until 916 will be the mark of how long you lived in Sacramento.

Among my high school graduating class of about 600, I'm probably only one of a handful with a stable phone number for over 35 years. That's because in 1981 I moved to the 703 area code in Virginia, and kept my landline so far (my much newer cellphone number is in the overlay 571 area code). Most of my classmates who stayed in or near my old hometown of Oceanside CA have gone through two area code changes, from 714 to 619 then to 760.

[Pink Jazz]

I agree that an overlay makes sense for 916; I don't see how it would be possible to geographically split such a small area. 

Now for many larger areas overlays in recent years are being applied inappropriately when geographic splits makes more sense.  Here in the Phoenix area we are one of the few major cities that still don't have any overlay codes, since in 1999 area code 602 was geographically split into 602 (most of Phoenix proper as well as a portion of Glendale and a small portion of Tempe), 480 (most of the East Valley, Ahwatukee, and parts of Northwest Phoenix), and 623 (most of the West Valley including most of Glendale and parts of West Phoenix).  480 was supposed to be an overlay code, but there was a lot of opposition to the plan at the time.

[jeffandnicole]

I wonder how long it will be until 916 will be the mark of how long you lived in Sacramento.

That time would be now.  Its highly unlikely they'll ever split area codes again, and people moving into the San Fran area will most likely just being their current phone and area code with them.

[jwolfer]

I wonder how long it will be until 916 will be the mark of how long you lived in Sacramento.

That time would be now.  Its highly unlikely they'll ever split area codes again, and people moving into the San Fran area will most likely just being their current phone and area code with them.

10 digit dialing is the norm for most people. I live in Jacksonville FL we are the largest city in the US with 7 digit dialing from what i understand. 904 area code. But my cell phone provider requires 10 digit dialing.

The CMSA also includes 352, 386 and 912 also

When people move most people dont change numbers anymore. No one is phased by a non local number

LGMS428

[mgk920]

Yea, when I was young, my phone number here in Appleton, WI started with '414'.  2017 is the 20th anniversary of our current '920' (mainly NE Wisconsin) being split off from it.  '262' was split off from 414 a few years later leaving 414 to cover only Milwaukee County and one small suburban area in Waukesha County.

Even though it's not required here (yet), I've done the '10D' dialing thing for all outgoing calls ever since I got my first cell phone in the early 00s - it just keeps things as simple as possible for me.

BTW, when the time does come, 920 will be overlaid - and the number was announced at least ten years ago - '274'.

Mike

[mgk920]

I wonder how long it will be until 916 will be the mark of how long you lived in Sacramento.

That time would be now.  Its highly unlikely they'll ever split area codes again, and people moving into the San Fran area will most likely just being their current phone and area code with them.

10 digit dialing is the norm for most people. I live in Jacksonville FL we are the largest city in the US with 7 digit dialing from what i understand. 904 area code. But my cell phone provider requires 10 digit dialing.

The CMSA also includes 352, 386 and 912 also

When people move most people dont change numbers anymore. No one is phased by a non local number

LGMS428

Metro Milwaukee, WI is still '7D' for local calls within 414 and 262, but '1+10D' for calls that cross the line.

Yea, agreed on the 'move in' thing.  Nowadays, when you move in and keep your old cell phone number, it's a big 'meh'  .

Mike

[kphoger]

I wonder how long it will be until 916 will be the mark of how long you lived in Sacramento.

That time would be now.  Its highly unlikely they'll ever split area codes again, and people moving into the San Fran area will most likely just being their current phone and area code with them.

Not necessarily.  Whenever somebody cancels a phone subscription with the 916 area code, that number becomes available again for a new customer.

Scenario:
You've had a 916 phone number your whole life.
Money is tight, you get behind on your bills, and you cancel your cable & phone subscription for a few months.
Your phone number is released back into the pool.
I move into town, sign up for phone service, and I get your old 916 phone number.
Your tax return comes in, you sign up for phone service again, and you get a 279 phone number.

Result:
The long-time resident has the new area code, while the new transplant has the old area code.

Tulsa (OK), for example, has had a 539 area code overlay since 2011, but there are still plenty of new customers receiving the "old" 918 area code; many of them recently moved into the area.  Meanwhile, other long-time Tulsa residents have moved across town to a different rate center (still Tulsa, still in the 918/539 area code boundaries, but a different rate center) and had to get a new phone number; some of them now have the "new" 539 area code, even though they've lived in Tulsa their whole lives.

[briantroutman]

Yea, agreed on the 'move in' thing.  Nowadays, when you move in and keep your old cell phone number, it's a big 'meh'  .

This XKCD comic comes to mind:

[vdeane]

I don't know if people in the Capital District (518, soon to have an overlay) still change their phone numbers when they move here or if landlines are unusually common, but many people get thrown off by my 585 area code for some reason.

[Big John]

I have recently moved and kept my old cell number, and people are thrown off by that around here.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

What exactly are the pros/cons of split vs. overlay? The Twin Cities split from one area code to four over a few years at the end of the 1990s, but northern Wisconsin and its geographically massive 715 recently received a new overlay.

[1995hoo]

We've had to use 10-digit dialling since 2000, so to me it looks funny now when I see a number written without the area code–quite the change from when I was a kid and we didn't have to dial the area code to call DC or suburban Maryland even though they had different area codes from us.

To answer the query in reply #11, overlays are used because at some point geographic splits simply become too small. Our 703 is a good example of that. It had already been split twice (first to create 804 in the 1970s, then to create 540 in the 1990s) and the second split confined 703 to a very small area. But it was running out of numbers again four years later, so they did the overlay. (My home number and mobile number are 703, dating to 2001 and 1999 respectively, but my Google Voice number is 571.)

An advantage to a split is that you generally do not need to dial the area code for local calls.

[jp the roadgeek]

An advantage to a split is that you generally do not need to dial the area code for local calls.

The key here is "generally".  I live in a town that borders where the 203/860 split occurred in 1995 (and each has since been overlain by 475 and 959, respectively).  My town became part of 860, while several towns in my local calling area retained 203.  To call these towns required 10 digit dialing.  By 2001, 10 digit dialing was required everywhere. 

[kalvado]

What exactly are the pros/cons of split vs. overlay? The Twin Cities split from one area code to four over a few years at the end of the 1990s, but northern Wisconsin and its geographically massive 715 recently received a new overlay.

As far as I understand, biggest problem is that some folks are getting upset with their number change. Cannot blame them - that means update to everyone who they deal with, and new marketing materials for business - new business cards, stationary, printed materials, loss of customers on older ads.
Split makes physical routing quite a bit easier - but since most things are digital anyway, that is not a true advantage any more. Another big thing is 7 digit dialing. Most people don't actually dial those numbers any more as phones grow smarter and smarter...  I wouldn't expect any splits in foreseeable future. Just not worth it. Unlike splits, overlays are easy on PR: most changes are on service side and are barely noticeable to general public. We're getting a fairly rushed overlay over here (less than a year from first mention to implementation), and looks like nobody really cares.

[1995hoo]

Heh. It's a sad commentary on modern life that I can't remember my wife's work phone number (I just tap her name on my iPhone or scroll to it on the cordless phones at home) but I could rattle off Luna's phone number without hesitation despite never having done business with Luna, simply because they run so many ads during baseball games.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

The overlay thing is another thing that is Chinese to me. In this part of the world we use different prefixes (What you call "area codes") for landlines and cellphones. And the latter aren't tied to a particular geographical area, avoiding the ridiculous thing that if I take a cellphone with a 207 area code number to San Diego, any calls from that phone to a 619 area code number will be local, but the other way round is a non-existent round-trip to Maine (with its long distance tolls)!

[Desert Man]

Every area code in CA now has (or about to have) an overlay, like 760 has 442 ... which means my neighbors in Palm Springs area could well have a different area code, LOL. Speaking of 916, my thoughts and prayers for the Feather River (like the Yuba City area) after the Oroville Dam emergency.

[jeffandnicole]

The overlay thing is another thing that is Chinese to me. In this part of the world we use different prefixes (What you call "area codes") for landlines and cellphones. And the latter aren't tied to a particular geographical area, avoiding the ridiculous thing that if I take a cellphone with a 207 area code number to San Diego, any calls from that phone to a 619 area code number will be local, but the other way round is a non-existent round-trip to Maine (with its long distance tolls)!

You're a young'in! 

The local/long distance thing is really from a different era in the US.  First off, what I speak of below could vary across the country...but this is generally how it worked.  (And I'm just going to skip over party lines and the days when operators connected your phone call, because I wasn't around for that period of time!)

We have to go back to the era of baby-bells in many areas of the country.  For me, I was in the Bell Atlantic area.  Phone numbers were XXX-YYY-ZZZZ.  Phone companies used to provide free calling in a small geographical area, based on exchanges, which was the YYY.  Exchanges were randomly assigned...you just had to know which other YYY exchanges were in your local area.  You didn't have to dial the XXX area code.   You could call YYY exchanges outside your local area, but they were considered local-long distance calls, in which you still only needed 7 digit dialing without the area code, but you would be charged a per-minute rate for those phone calls.  Calls outside your area code were long distance.  You had a separate company handling those long distance calls, such as AT&T.  Those you had to dial 1-XXX-YYY-ZZZZ.  And you received a separate bill for them.

In some areas, as 1995hoo mentioned, NoVA and DC had different area codes, but the phone companies considered that specific area as within the local network, so you didn't get charged for those phone calls.

Calling others in the 1970's was actually quite expensive.  There weren't too many long-distance phone calls made.

Also, area codes had to have a 0 or 1 in the middle because rotary phones.  Cities and other populated areas had a 1, because on rotary phones it didn't take as long to dial a 1.  Or a 2.  Thus, cities like New York City's area code was 212.  Philly was 215.  The area with 909 (in California) had the longest dial on a rotary phone...although when they were assigned that number, most people had touch-tone button phones.

As fax machines came online (along with credit card terminals), it started eating up numbers.  Frequently, the phone company would split the area code, so that while some people had to change their number, others didn't.  Usually the original code was kept for the main cities within the area code; the further-out suburbs and rural areas got the new area code.   

Eventually, we started running out of area codes, because there's only so many X0X and X1X numbers out there.  So they were able to modernize by allowing nearly any number combination as XXX (some exceptions apply...there's never going to be a 000 or 911 area code, for example).   But phone numbers within area codes were given out in groups of exchanges.  As companies started applying for numbers, especially with the advent of cell phones, they would be given the 789 exchange within the 428 area code for example.  But the problem was that company may only have a few customers.  So there were a lot of numbers going unused.  That accelerated the use of 'taken' phone numbers...even though many weren't being actually used...which then required more area codes and more splits.  (That rule has since changed)

Eventually, the phone companies started allowing overlays.  The downside is that it required people within both area codes to enter all 10 digits...and this was when many people used home phones.  Sure, there was speed dialing options both on the phone and thru the phone company, but for most people, they had to dial all 10 digits.  As cell phones became more popular and more advanced, so did the saving of contacts within the phone.  10 digit dialing wasn't as bad as it used to be.

Eventually, phone companies started allowing the transfer of numbers...both among different companies (which became a huge war among the cell companies to get people to come to their company without the need to get a new phone number), but eventually allowed people to move across the country keeping their same phone number.

And, in a nutshell, that's how we got to where we are today.  In fact, phone calls today are down as much as 25% compared to the 80's and 90's because most people text...but that still requires a phone number. 

So, looping all the way back to your comment...if they had to start anew today, chances are the area code and exchanges wouldn't be as much of a factor in issuing phone numbers.  But, it's the way the system has always operated here, and they're pretty much stuck with it. 

[kalvado]

The overlay thing is another thing that is Chinese to me. In this part of the world we use different prefixes (What you call "area codes") for landlines and cellphones. And the latter aren't tied to a particular geographical area, avoiding the ridiculous thing that if I take a cellphone with a 207 area code number to San Diego, any calls from that phone to a 619 area code number will be local, but the other way round is a non-existent round-trip to Maine (with its long distance tolls)!

If you will, having those different prefixes in the same area IS an overlay for me. But as always, it is historical thing.
US historically has slightly different billing approach for cells - instead of Calling Party Pays, US had cell phone owner to pay for connection to base (airtime minutes), so explicitly separating cell/landline was not required. That makes sense if you assume cell owners can afford expense of cell - and so have to pay for that luxury themselves (and early cells were not cheap, if you remember).
Last, but not the least, clear separation between cell and landline is now blurred with IP phones and computer calling apps. And I would hazard to assume that pure landlines with a dedicated wire from switching station to your phone are on their way to extinction. So different prefixes may become a strange artifact for the next generation. With free roaming, though, in a few years area codes may be equally strange thing of the past.

[bing101]

I wonder how long it will be until 916 will be the mark of how long you lived in Sacramento.

That time would be now.  Its highly unlikely they'll ever split area codes again, and people moving into the San Fran area will most likely just being their current phone and area code with them.

Not necessarily.  Whenever somebody cancels a phone subscription with the 916 area code, that number becomes available again for a new customer.

Scenario:
You've had a 916 phone number your whole life.
Money is tight, you get behind on your bills, and you cancel your cable & phone subscription for a few months.
Your phone number is released back into the pool.
I move into town, sign up for phone service, and I get your old 916 phone number.
Your tax return comes in, you sign up for phone service again, and you get a 279 phone number.

Result:
The long-time resident has the new area code, while the new transplant has the old area code.

Tulsa (OK), for example, has had a 539 area code overlay since 2011, but there are still plenty of new customers receiving the "old" 918 area code; many of them recently moved into the area.  Meanwhile, other long-time Tulsa residents have moved across town to a different rate center (still Tulsa, still in the 918/539 area code boundaries, but a different rate center) and had to get a new phone number; some of them now have the "new" 539 area code, even though they've lived in Tulsa their whole lives.

The last time I seen an area code change happen in the Sacramento area was 20 years ago when 530 was formed to cover Northern portions of the Sacramento Valley plus Davis, Oroville and Lake Tahoe.

This was around the same time when 650 was formed to cover San Mateo County and San Francisco kept the 415 area code.

But however I'm in Solano county we get people who have cell phones not only registered with a 707 area code (Solano County's designated area code) but we get people getting bay area (area codes 650, 415, 925, and 510) because that's where they got their phones and also some 916 and 530's from Davis and Sacramento mainly because Solano County is a commuter county for both places mentioned here.

[kphoger]

I wonder how long it will be until 916 will be the mark of how long you lived in Sacramento.

That time would be now.  Its highly unlikely they'll ever split area codes again, and people moving into the San Fran area will most likely just being their current phone and area code with them.

Not necessarily.  Whenever somebody cancels a phone subscription with the 916 area code, that number becomes available again for a new customer.

Scenario:
You've had a 916 phone number your whole life.
Money is tight, you get behind on your bills, and you cancel your cable & phone subscription for a few months.
Your phone number is released back into the pool.
I move into town, sign up for phone service, and I get your old 916 phone number.
Your tax return comes in, you sign up for phone service again, and you get a 279 phone number.

Result:
The long-time resident has the new area code, while the new transplant has the old area code.

Tulsa (OK), for example, has had a 539 area code overlay since 2011, but there are still plenty of new customers receiving the "old" 918 area code; many of them recently moved into the area.  Meanwhile, other long-time Tulsa residents have moved across town to a different rate center (still Tulsa, still in the 918/539 area code boundaries, but a different rate center) and had to get a new phone number; some of them now have the "new" 539 area code, even though they've lived in Tulsa their whole lives.

The last time I seen an area code change happen in the Sacramento area was 20 years ago when 530 was formed to cover Northern portions of the Sacramento Valley plus Davis, Oroville and Lake Tahoe.

This was around the same time when 650 was formed to cover San Mateo County and San Francisco kept the 415 area code.

But however I'm in Solano county we get people who have cell phones not only registered with a 707 area code (Solano County's designated area code) but we get people getting bay area (area codes 650, 415, 925, and 510) because that's where they got their phones and also some 916 and 530's from Davis and Sacramento mainly because Solano County is a commuter county for both places mentioned here.

I'm not talking about cell phones at all.  I have no idea how cell phone numbers are assigned.  But, for land lines, rate centers are different from cities.  You can no more keep the same land line phone number if you move across the street but cross a rate center boundary than you could keep it if you moved to the other side of the country.

[kphoger]

As companies started applying for numbers, especially with the advent of cell phones, they would be given the 789 exchange within the 428 area code for example.  But the problem was that company may only have a few customers.  So there were a lot of numbers going unused.  That accelerated the use of 'taken' phone numbers...even though many weren't being actually used...which then required more area codes and more splits.  (That rule has since changed)

Are phone numbers still assigned in blocks, though?  That was my understanding.  I thought they didn't necessarily get the entire 428-789-NNNN exchange, but they would still get the whole range from 428-789-5300 to 428-789-6799 (for example).

[kalvado]

As companies started applying for numbers, especially with the advent of cell phones, they would be given the 789 exchange within the 428 area code for example.  But the problem was that company may only have a few customers.  So there were a lot of numbers going unused.  That accelerated the use of 'taken' phone numbers...even though many weren't being actually used...which then required more area codes and more splits.  (That rule has since changed)

Are phone numbers still assigned in blocks, though?  That was my understanding.  I thought they didn't necessarily get the entire 428-789-NNNN exchange, but they would still get the whole range from 428-789-5300 to 428-789-6799 (for example).

I believe original policy was 10k number allocation - you know, 640kbyte should be enough, and 10 million numbers in area code should be enough..
Problem is that no actual usage reporting exists, and there is no recall/reallocation procedure. You can get a smaller block by now, but a lot of capacity is wasted. Somewhat similar to IP-4 addresses.
And next high-profile issue would be with SSNs, I suspect

[jeffandnicole]

As companies started applying for numbers, especially with the advent of cell phones, they would be given the 789 exchange within the 428 area code for example.  But the problem was that company may only have a few customers.  So there were a lot of numbers going unused.  That accelerated the use of 'taken' phone numbers...even though many weren't being actually used...which then required more area codes and more splits.  (That rule has since changed)

Are phone numbers still assigned in blocks, though?  That was my understanding.  I thought they didn't necessarily get the entire 428-789-NNNN exchange, but they would still get the whole range from 428-789-5300 to 428-789-6799 (for example).

I believe original policy was 10k number allocation - you know, 640kbyte should be enough, and 10 million numbers in area code should be enough..
Problem is that no actual usage reporting exists, and there is no recall/reallocation procedure. You can get a smaller block by now, but a lot of capacity is wasted. Somewhat similar to IP-4 addresses.
And next high-profile issue would be with SSNs, I suspect

I believe they assign them in groups of 1,000 now. 

Another issue at the time was a fairly undefined world of cell phone companies, with a whole bunch trying to get onto the market.  And they all needed to get their own exchanges all over the place.

It's fairly contained right now with the big 4 companies (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) and a few smaller ones, so not as many numbers need to be given out.  And they do recycle numbers as well.